Shawna Potter: Making Spaces Safer

Doors open 30 minutes before the start of the event.

Join us as Shawna Potter sits down with fellow musician Meredith Graves to talk about her book, Making Spaces Safer.

“Every time someone wants me to prove sexism in the scene exists I am not going to tell them about having beer spat in my face while I’m singing or about men screaming ‘shut up’ while I’m talking between songs. I’m gonna hand them this book and say ‘No more horror stories, here are some solutions.'” —Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin

Shawna Potter, singer for the band War On Women, has tackled sexism and harassment in lyrics and on stage for years. Taking the battle to music venues themselves, she has trained night clubs and community spaces in how to create safer environments for marginalized people. Now she’s turned decades of experience into a clear and concise guide for public spaces of all sorts, from art galleries to bagel shops to concert halls, that want to shut down harassers wherever they show up. The steps she outlines are realistic, practical, and actionable. With the addition of personal stories, case studies, sample policies, and no-nonsense advice like “How to Flirt without Being a Creep,” she shows why safer spaces are important, while making it easier to achieve them. Eschewing theory, she assumes the reader is already an ethical creature and jumps right in with candor, punk passion, and righteous anger to get the job done!

Join us as Shawna Potter sits down with fellow musician Meredith Graves to talk about her book, Making Spaces Safer.

“Every time someone wants me to prove sexism in the scene exists I am not going to tell them about having beer spat in my face while I’m singing or about men screaming ‘shut up’ while I’m talking between songs. I’m gonna hand them this book and say ‘No more horror stories, here are some solutions.'” —Kathleen Hanna, Bikini Kill, Le Tigre, and The Julie Ruin

Shawna Potter, singer for the band War On Women, has tackled sexism and harassment in lyrics and on stage for years. Taking the battle to music venues themselves, she has trained night clubs and community spaces in how to create safer environments for marginalized people. Now she’s turned decades of experience into a clear and concise guide for public spaces of all sorts, from art galleries to bagel shops to concert halls, that want to shut down harassers wherever they show up. The steps she outlines are realistic, practical, and actionable. With the addition of personal stories, case studies, sample policies, and no-nonsense advice like “How to Flirt without Being a Creep,” she shows why safer spaces are important, while making it easier to achieve them. Eschewing theory, she assumes the reader is already an ethical creature and jumps right in with candor, punk passion, and righteous anger to get the job done!